Object Groups

Frank M. Strong, Vergennes, Vermont, invented the Howe Scale. In 1856, with Thomas Ross, Strong obtained his first patent, which became the first outstanding scale improvement in America, and the foundation of the present business. The first scale with the improved ball bearing was installed at Vernon Village Mills, Oenida County, N.Y., 1856. In 1858 Howe began to win awards consistently at fairs and exhibitions, and by 1859 had no competition. At the Paris Exposition, 1867, Howe took first prizes

The E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Company was founded July 19, 1802 by Eleuthere Irenee DuPont on Brandywine Creek to manufacture gunpowder. From this beginning the company engaged in the research, development and manufacture of a variety of products, including synthetic materials such as nylon, announced in 1938

Summary

Promotional booklets and pamphlets, 1940-1963, regarding nylon; catalogues on the industrial use of nylon; 25th anniversary book on nylon; photographs, and a variety of other documents. Includes memo to DuPont employees concerning the company's wartime involvement in the development of the atomic bomb

Cite as

DuPont Nylon Collection, 1939-1977, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

These records of this company, located in Kansas City, Missouri, include invoices; bills of material (quantity surveys); sales records with model name, number, date, customer; and promotional literature and specifications

Cite as

American Scale and Service Company Records, 1912-1956, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

These records document the development of the Lifwynn Eye-Movement Camera, devised and built by Dr. Henry Roger in his laboratory at Sand Hook, Connecticut. Charles Robinson assisted in the development and construction of the electrical features. The registration and analysis of eye movements was undertaken as part of the study of the physiological alterations related to neurotic disorders

Summary

Includes file memoranda on meetings and correspondence between the Lifwynn Foundation for Laboratory Research in Analytical and Social Psychiatry Incorporated, and in particular, Hans Syz, M.D., Secretary, and various doctors, psychologists, and other professionals in the subject field, and various U.S. military departments, regarding either the eye movement camera or research projects using it

J. Wiss & Sons Company was founded in 1848 by Jacob Wiss, a thirty-one-year-old immigrant from Switzerland who was an experienced cutler and gunsmith. The company, headed by Wiss and his descendants in Newark, N.J., emphasized high quality in its products, which became known world-wide and sold to the U.S. Government in the Civil War and the two World Wars. In 1914, Wiss acquired the manufacturing facilities of a competitor and became the largest producer of fine scissors and shears in the world. Following World War I, Wiss weathered a severe depression in scissors markets, partly caused by dumping of European products. Increased U.S. help remedied this situation. Cooper Industries purchased the company in 1976. After the purchase, the factory remained in Newark for a few years, then was moved south, and finally manufacturing was done overseas. According to a message from Don Wiss (April 22, 2010), Cooper bought the product line and the Wiss name to add to the other names they use in their Hand Tool Group (e.g., Weller, Lufkin, Crescent, Nicholson, etc)

Summary

Catalog and Salesman's Fact Book, 1921-1925, and "A Story of Shears and Scissors". The book includes a 1925 Wiss Catalog of scissors, snips, and shears and a 1925 catalog of Kraeuter and Company Inc., Newark,manufacturers of pliers, wrenches, chisels, automobile and machinists' tools and ticket punches. Also, numerous price lists and advertisements for the tools, apparently clipped from publications

Cite as

J. Wiss & Sons Company Records, 1921-1925, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Wilcox was a colonel in the Army, residing in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

Summary

Correspondence with Nathaniel Greene Wilcox family; legal documents; newspaper clippings, including the July 3, 1860 issue of THE RUSHVILLE TIMES, illustrated with articles and editorials about the 1860 presidential candidates

Guglielmo Marconi spent his entire life developing wireless communication into a practical reality

Summary

A photomechanical photograph (with plate marks, bearning Marconi's signature) of the Marchese Marconi and two photographic copy prints of the Marchese, the Marchesa, and their daughter Elettra Marconi. Also three copy photographs (in control file) made by OPPS, apparently from a loan

Cite as

Marconi Family Portraits, 1930s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Maria and Elletra Marconi